Maria Rioux began her undergraduate studies at Thomas Aquinas College, where she met her husband, Jean. Jean is a professor and chair of the philosophy department at Benedictine College, where Maria is a theology major slowly completing her degree. They have been blessed with eight children, and are eagerly awaiting the birth of their youngest son in January.

Together they have been home educating their children for the past 19 years. In those early days of homeschooling there were not many resources available. As a consequence, they developed their own curriculum which reflects their love for classical education as well as their affection for Charlotte Mason. It is now available upon request and will soon be available online (no cost) : www.shirreware.com.

Saint Albert the Great (circa 1200 AD) said:

In studying nature we have not to inquire how God the Creator may, as He freely wills, use His creatures to work miracles and thereby show forth His power: we have rather to inquire what Nature with its immanent causes can naturally bring to pass.

From The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 159:

Faith and science: "Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth." "Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are."

Alexander Graham Bell said:

Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do so you will be certain to find something that you have never seen before. Follow it up, explore all around it, and before you know it, you will have something worth thinking about to occupy your mind. All really big discoveries are the results of thought.

Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery – the preconditions of all true freedom. … Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them. (The Catechism of the Catholic Church #2223)

What are the “qualifications” of a successful homeschool parent?

We can sum up very quickly what people need to teach their own children. First of all, they have to like them, enjoy their company, their physical presence, their energy, foolishness, and passion. They have to enjoy all their talk and questions, and enjoy equally trying to answer those questions...They have to feel in their own hearts some of their children's wonder, curiosity, and excitement about the world. And they have to have enough confidence in themselves, skepticism about experts, and willingness to be different from most people, to take on themselves the responsibility for their children's learning... [children] need access. They need a chance, sometimes, for honest, serious, unhurried talk; or sometimes, for joking, play, and foolishness; or sometimes, for tenderness, sympathy and comfort." (pg. 28) Homeschooling with Gentleness: A Catholic Discovers Unschooling by Suzie Andres, quoting John Holt

Beware the fallacy of perfection. “Illusions are dangerous people – they have no flaws.” (Sabrina, 1995) Families are human and fallen. Having problems and challenges are a normal part of life. We ask God for the grace to work our way through these challenges and cooperate with his great and boundless love for us. Support is essential. Supportive people will offer perspective, ideas for problem solving, a sense of hope, encouragement to make tough decisions, etc.- especially when serious academic or “family” problems arise. Don’t be afraid to need help. Find trustworthy friends, mentors, tutors or professionals as needed and don’t let pride get in the way. Pray for guidance and for God to bring supportive and helpful people into your life. You need to be willing to cooperate with His grace. Help isn’t just for “problems” – working with mentors or “co-oping” with other parents can be very beneficial and motivating for you and your children.

One is entitled to think that the future of humanity is in the hands of those who are capable of providing the generations to come with reasons for life and optimism. (Gaudium et Spes as quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1917)

Virtues of a Homeschool Parent: The following are virtues that are not only useful in a practical sense for us to better accomplish our goals as homeschool parents, but also ones which we want to cultivate in our own children; and the power of example is one of the most important ways of doing this. Diligence:

I used the word "diligent" to describe a student. This word (as a Latin verb) is used by Aquinas in his song Adoro Te devote, and it means "love". In order to succeed at acquiring knowledge, the student must LOVE that subject. And that means it would be best for the teacher to also love it, and communicate that love. (G.K.C.'s Favourite)

To love a subject includes having an appreciation of its purpose in the bigger picture even when it doesn’t “delight” in all its particulars. Remember that all learning is for the sake of knowing Christ! The efforts of you and your children plus God’s grace equal amazing things. This quote from St. Francis helps with perspective: “Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Don’t “close doors” based on perceived limitations – seek other options as necessary – don’t be afraid to go out of ordinary school “conventions” – some of them are created for efficiency in the classroom and are unnecessary in a homeschool setting. Overcoming “roadblocks” –

• Parents see the big picture and encourage children to persevere.
• Keep “road-blocks” to a reasonable size.
• Overcoming “roadblocks” builds confidence and minimizes frustration.

Rigorous vs. Rigid A rigorous education challenges the child at an appropriate level and helps them grow in all important areas. It seeks to develop their talents and important skills while encouraging them to “reach higher” and put in good effort. Being too rigid can throw things off balance. Be more concerned with your child’s needs than meeting your own expectations. (think effective vs. efficient) Children thrive on challenge and responsibility – when success is within reach. Conversely, lack of challenge/boredom can hurt every aspect of development and formation.

Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and "a school for human enrichment." Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous - even repeated forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one's life. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1656-1657)

Humility:

Pride is a weakness in the character; it dries up laughter, it drives up wonder, it dries up chivalry and energy. (G.K. Chesterton, Heretics IX)

Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak. - G. K. Chesterton (Father Brown: The Hammer of God)

Be open to God’s providence and seeking God’s will. Be open to listening to and learning from your children. Children have a fallen nature, but they’re not completely “broken”. One example in our family that always reminds me of this idea happened when my oldest was in 3rd or 4th grade. She found Math very tedious and I tried to help her keep things moving, but it was frustrating for her. One day she came up with an idea. She would take her Math outside, put it on a a folding chair, put on her roller blades and reward herself with a ride up and down the driveway every few problems. It worked, but even if it didn't, it was good to let her try out her very worthwhile idea! Don’t be afraid to “not know” something. You can set a great example to your children by showing how they can seek answers to their questions. Some of your family’s best learning moments may follow these words: “I don’t know – let’s go find out!” Enthusiasm "I myself have little Latin and less Greek. But I know enough Greek to know the meaning of the second syllable of "enthusiasm," and I know it to be the key to this and every other discussion." (G.K. Chesterton The Thing) … The Greek work Theos means "God". "Enthusiasm" literally means "to have God within"! (G.K.C.'s Favourite) Little ones are the most enthusiastic people in the world. Take the time to “catch” their enthusiasm and look at the world in a new way. Appreciate, enjoy and encourage enthusiasm in your children. Cultivate enthusiasm in yourself.

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3-4)

Patience

Patience is faith in action. Patience is emotional diligence. It's the willingness to suffer inside so that others can grow. It reveals love. It gives birth to understanding. Even as we become aware of our suffering in love, we learn about ourselves and our own weaknesses and motives. (Stephen Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families)

Expect results to take time. Allow children to process, explore and even enjoy a topic (“make it their own”) before testing their knowledge or expecting “feedback”. Related Links: Love2Learn Moments: Teaching and Learning (#30) One of the most unique aspects of homeschooling, and even parenting in general, is how much parents learn and grow in the process

I struggled with this question a bit a few years ago - before I had read enough historical fiction to get a sense of its purpose. I wondered why stories about people and events that didn't really take place could be useful for the study of history.

First of all, a great deal of fiction is historical fiction. Whether intended or not, most stories set in a different time and place from our own will teach us something about how people lived in those circumstances. As an example, I thought it interesting when I was reading through the Anne of Green Gables series that one of the later books covers Anne's family dealing with all of the struggles and hardships of World War I. I would imagine that the author hadn't intended to write "historical fiction" when she first started the series, but was probably so affected by World War I that she was moved to include these experiences in one of her stories.

Historical Fiction allows an author to present a certain event or time period from a particular perspective. Now, perspective might seem like an ambiguous consideration for the study of history, but I think it can tell you an awful lot about how people work. Understanding a person's background, upbringing, lifestyle and impressions of the world around him can give you a fairly clear picture about why he made certain decisions or acted in a certain way. When we read history texts, we only see things through our view of what the world is like. We need to understand history through the eyes of the people who were there! I believe that understanding human nature and learning from the experiences of others is a rather important part of the study of history. Perspective fits in very nicely with this too. Perspective also can help explain how two people (or nations), both thinking that they're in the right, can be opposed to each other.

Reading about a particular event from a unique perspective can also help us relate to it better. An example that comes to mind is Abigail and the Widow Mary by Noel Trimming. In this book, several of Jesus' miracles are elaborated on through the eyes of fictitious children who might have been involved in the story. "Abigail" is the younger sister of the bride of the Wedding Feast at Cana. Although the story as told in the Gospels is beautiful and moving, even an adult is assisted in seeing more fully the significance of the miracle by Abigail's concerns about her family's honor and her joy at witnessing Jesus miraculously changing the water to wine. The details of the story give us a more complete understanding of how serious the lack of wine at the Wedding was given the Jewish culture and customs.

Another example is The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud von de Fort. Through the eyes of a Carmelite convent in France, we "witness" the French Revolution from a Catholic perspective. We see how much the revolutionaries hated God and religion, how Catholics were treated by them and how Catholics reacted to the revolution itself.

Additional Thoughts:

1. History and Literature are the same in some ways -- they both are the study of man. The study of history can increase our wisdom and insight about human nature. By reading about the successes and failures of people in different circumstances, one can learn how to act and how not to act.

2. The study of history allows us to see beyond the circumstances of our own age, and distinguish what is eternal from what is ephemereal. The importance of this is hardly to be over-estimated. As G.K. Chesterton says, the main purpose of education is that we realize that our conventional wisdom is not real wisdom.

3. As to historical fiction as opposed to textbooks -- textbooks have their place, but they are a skeleton version of real history, and should not be mistaken for the living body. Fiction allows history to come alive. I'm also thinking that in past ages history was taught and passed on more in literary works than in textbooks. Think of the Odyssey, the Aeneid, many of Shakespeare's plays, indeed the Bible -- they are all to a greater or lesser extent at least purportedly historical, yet they are unmistakably literature. In my opinion, since history and literature are so closely intertwined in themes and meaning, they are a natural combination. I'd even say that history as the study of human nature can't reach its full potential except by literary means.

4. When I was a child, I read all kinds of fiction, and what I loved most about these stories was that they allowed me to step into others' shoes -- an Indian boy, a pioneer girl, a medieval knight -- and to reflect on choices and dilemmas I would thankfully never have to face in real life. All kinds of fiction serves this purpose, but particularly historical fiction, because the lives portrayed in historical fiction are further outside one's scope. They allow one to "practice" outside the boundaries of one's normal, safe, habitual life. For this reason I think that well-chosen, high-quality historical fiction can be a benefit to a child's character.

Contributed by Willa Ryan

"I have always loved historical fiction and devoured it as a little girl. My favorite times in history are Tudor/Stuart England and Civil War America. I think historical fiction is valuable in the fact that the authors explore the why of a person's motivation in the particular mileau. The history books tell the facts, dates, people, names, places. But why did Henry the VIII go through so many wives? Why did Mary Tudor feel so strongly about her Catholic faith? If we take a minor fictitious character and see the major characters through their fictitious eyes, we can explore these facets of history in an analytic sense. Children in works of historical fictional can help our children relate to the characters in the book and help them to understand why history happened the way it did and ask themselves what would they do in a particular situation. How would they have treated a slave on their daddy's plantation? How would they have reacted to their brother's going off to war? What was the motivation for an important historical figure's actions?"

"Another advantage I have found is that my children, who like historical fiction (gee, really?) are then also interested in re-enactments, antique shops, and historical villages. They see in real life what they read about in books. Most of the time, I would think that a woman taking six children into an antique shop would be nuts, but my children are amazed by the treasures and love to go. Last weekend we found an old cobbler's shoe kit that we bought and are going to learn how they made shoes. My oldest is going to dress up from one of the characters in the Mother Seton book and do the demonstration for homeschool groups and schools. "

Contributed by Joan Stromberg (author of The Orphans Find a Home: A Mother Cabrini Story)